Saturday, May 03, 2014

Where did all the money go?

Anti-fracking forces in St. Tammany Parish had a long wait this week
for retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who missed a scheduled meeting
at the Abita Springs Trailhead on Thursday afternoon. But when the
general-turned-environmental-activist did show up at Abita Springs Town
Hall that evening during an informational meeting about planned fracking
in Mandeville, he was greeted like a hero.

The audience clapped and cheered as Honoré entered, and they
occasionally started clamoring to hear from him instead of the panelists
or audience members who were holding forth.

Organizers insisted on sticking to the program and said Honoré would speak last.

When he did so, the crowded hall seemed to transform into a tent
revival. Honoré exhorted his audience, which eagerly participated in a
call-and-response that lambasted fracking for failing to bring better
roads, schools or prosperity to the places where it is prevalent.